Wednesday, 7 December 2011

During school years, I didn't take well to being told what we could write about, or the reviews he just HAD to write, about books that didn't mean all that much in the first place... Although Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men remains a favourite from that era but that's the only one. It's with that thought in mind that I spent several years with no inclination to pick a pen or pencil up and start writing. But the last four years seemed to change everything.

I began to have words and phrases floating around in my head that didn't seem to anywhere apart from a blank page that just seemed to yearn for them. So that there started my passion to write. I spent the first 3 years focused upon poetry, the whole thought of writing a story seemed to haunt me. That was until this year. So much had happened over the years that there needed a way to release the thoughts or expressions that couldn't be done through speech and writing answered that calling.

I began finding structured idea's flowing in my mind that just needed to get out there. Ideas that were obviously too long and detailed to ever be poetry. Which then lead me to zoning in to the thoughts that flowed around such ideas, where then the hand took over and began writing them down. That then started the whole thing off properly.

From there I announce the birth of my first attempt at novel writing, which started in January of this year and remains to be completed but still conceals in my mind a firm foundation that seems to keep flowing even now when I work on my NaNo Novel.

I write with the memory of friends and family in mind. With their support they aid me onwards. I may not be the best, but at least I can hold my head high with pride at what I've achieved.

I write because I have a voice that wants to be heard, albeit from the pages it's written within. I write because there is a fire under my soles that keeps me going. ... That might not be the answer people expect, but that's my answer.

So - I open this to anyone out there reading this - Why do you write, tell me why you are a writer, what inspires you, what empowers you, what keeps you going through all else?

Sunday, 4 December 2011

Because that's what its like today just to get those words written down. Since the turn of December I've yet to write 1,000 words, where as compared to November, they were flying out almost at full speed. It seems now that it's December - the crash is on, the down time prevailing over the will to write, the muse seems to have gone on holiday without due care and consultation. How dare he leave me hanging like this when I need his aid!

It's not helping with the obvious build up of Christmas trade and increasing lack of space to write. I can't write over at my desk right now, which is what's irritating me more than anything. Why? I hear you asking... well there has occurred a leak in the ceiling which drips to where the chair sits, making this novice writer feel more like a damp squid out of water, one feeling I do not wish to feel. I'd rather be cosy and dry writing away, than sitting at the desk with water dripping down my back. Dare I sit elsewhere to write in the house then I need to put up with constant distraction and interruption namely from my beautiful border collie who has the most impeccable timing to approach you when your busy, the rest of the time she leaves you in peace.

At least you can see the will to write has not vanished, this post shows that, but that doesn't help with the novel which is so close to being finished it's ridiculous. How can such a yearning to write it evade one's grasp? I mean you'd think another 8,000 words wouldn't be that difficult to write after churning out 112,364 since November 1st. Yes it's a first draft - a bad first draft. But it's a start, where upon it will be looked at and edited, then looked at again and edited. It could take several edits to have it looking the way I want it to, I'm prepared for that, I'm willing to put the time in and sort it, but I want to finish the first draft first. 8,000 words at least until the main bulk of Timber Varden is finished, but then there's the additional 25,000 to consider for the secondary short story that I want to run with it, which I'm seriously reconsidering at this moment in time. I'm not so sure that I could right from the perspective of an animal despite seeing how it unfolds in my mind but I do believe that I should at least attempt to write it. Better to say I attempted and failed than to say I never tried in the first place.

So The motto here is : You never know how it will go if you only procrastinate over it, it's best to make a start then decide if it's working for you.

Well currently the word count sits at 111,999 - Once it reached 111,111 I didn't want to continue, I loved the number but made myself write more - this being on December 2nd. The 1st was a no write day, and the 3rd followed suit to the first, but at some point tonight I shall push on and make some further heads way with this book if it's the last thing I ever do!

Although, that may have to wait some as I have an on line class to lead, I suppose I could do some writing while that's going on but will need to make sure that my focus is on the chat and not the word document - how difficult that is going to be is of no underestimation.

Friday, 2 December 2011

Well... I've spent the last 24 hours reflecting back on the last 30 days, wondering where on earth they had run away too. Is it just me or does anyone else out there feel that since November has past us, there is a vacant gap left from the thrill?

I still have plenty to write and edit when the time comes but since NaNo ended the composure and impulse to write seemed to fade out with it. I will push myself tomorrow and at least get some more words written down to get this book's first draft finished.

Thursday, 1 December 2011

That's it folks it's all over the last golden ticket has been found... er purple bar has been added.The time is now 1:14am on the 1st of December... December can you believe it? Christmas is just around the corner and I'm still thinking about my book Timber Varden which still isn't finished however.... This has been my first year participating in NaNoWriMo - 30 days of literary abandonment, and I managed to hit the target of 50k and surpass that. It's currently sitting at 111,474 words long with one more main chapter and epilogue to write before tackling the secondary short that shall run with it.

As you can see this is what my graph looks like today. 30 days ago there wasn't a word, or a mark upon that graph. 5 days in and I reached that 50k target but kept on going as the story kept unfolding. 30 days along and there is still writing to be done, but at a more leisurely rate and certainly with passion.

I can't tell you how I feel now that it's done, a part of me wishes it was here for another month, but another part of me is relieved that I've survived such a feat. It has shown me that I can write the novel I've always wanted to write and then some. It's proven that I can write each and every day, no matter how much or how little it can be done. The average novel length is 80,000 words long - once the edits are done after the first draft is finished it could be more like that despite the high count now.

So what do I do now that NaNo is done? I do what I was born to do... and that is write, I will continue to finish Timber Varden and then proceed to Edit it, but I will give it some breathing space and return back to Awakening, my other novel that's become stranded in mid space along the way, straggling behind at 37ish thousand words. I will say that this is my first year ever attempting to write a novel and to have two starts is for me a great achievement. I have loved every moment that NaNo has offered me, the friends that I have since made, those fellow budding writers there to inspire and encourage - such an immense supportive group of people - there will never be anyone like them!

Yes I have friends who are just as supportive but when you need a writers critical eye for detail, you can only truly turn to a fellow writer for some advice, where as if turning to friends they may not be able to assist with what your needing some help with. All fair in love and war - well the pen leads this battle with his prose and might.

I'm not the best of writers - I don't intend to be, I write because I love it, I write because the passion is there and that my friends is what matters!

We are all Champions in the battle of writing, whether you have succeeded to write 50,000 words in 30 days or not you are a champion - nothing can take that from you. We are the warriors of the next generation and together we shall battle on!

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

OK, It's been two weeks since my last posting, but I'm here now. Life has been busy, distracting if you want to call it that, but I'm not making excuses. I have maintained to writing every day, which is rather hard to believe. I'll admit it's hard to get the ball rolling, but once the ground has been prepared it makes it so much easier to plant the seeds that then grow into something more, it's much the same with writing. Your first... 300 words of the day may seem tedious and straining, but once you get going, it flows with you, and before you know it you've churned out another 2000 words.

So where is it at... I hear you asking. Well as of last night (early hours of this morning) I reached the unthinkable (even for me) word count of 100,000 and surpassed it by a following 233 words. I didn't think I'd be even close to hitting 50k by this time, let alone doubling it. I'm amazed at how much has been written, but I'm not holding my hopes up as there is heck of a lot of working needing done to the book when the first draft is finished.

What's still needing done?

How about the character descriptions of Christian, Amelia and Eric at the start of the book. Room details, such as the Study at the start, his sitting room perhaps, and most definitely his Cabin in Timber Varden. I also need to go back through it and fix out the tensing errors such as past tense over present. Past tense would work better by head and fingers seem to think it's fun to keep swapping from past to present then back to past again.

I'm also considering looking at how other people see things and how they feel rather than most of the book coming across in first person, when it should be first and third omi.

Can you tell I'm newbie when it comes to writing, this book I'm working on is only my second Novel attempt, both of which have been started this year, neither first drafts are finished but Timber Varden is so much further along in development in comparison to my love child Awakening. I love it's story so much, but finding it really hard to get the right flow and composure for it. So many things have happened over the year to interrupt it's pacing, but once Nano is done, I'll go back to that one, giving myself a break from this one before coming back to it.

I think, I should consider investing in a proper Dictionary and Thesaurus to help me progress further and give a better understanding of the written word, which when I compare my writing to that of others, it really does lack depth. But then, we are always told to write what we know, so if we don't know such fancy words, it is best to keep it simple, not everyone has a knowledge for nearly unpronounceable words.

Top Tip: Don't go back and make changes while you still write your first draft.Write often, whether it's only a little amount or thousands at once makes no difference just get the words down DAILY.

I can't begin to express how much I LOVE this cover design. The person that has created this for me has done such a fantastic job with that, I couldn't have asked for anything else.

At first, I thought I might need to edit the details of the cabin in the book to match the image, until someone very rightly pointed out to me that I didn't need to as the cabin pictured has a smaller first floor, which is perfect as the one written is the same to a degree.

Oh and aren't those eyes just hauntingly captivating, so riveting they speak a thousand words alone, and they look as I imagined them to on Sati, my wolf character in the book being written.

Sunday, 6 November 2011

Well it's now Sunday, albeit it only just by a mere matter of 34 minutes, and as promised here's my update for the week.

As some of you are aware NaNoWriMo officially started on Tuesday the 1st of November, and the aim of that is to write a novel of 50 thousand words or more by the 30th. Giving you a grand total of 30 days in which to hit that 50k mark.

On day one I made a start on my novel Timber Varden, not expecting to hit high numbers in the word count for the day. However by the time midnight came and the updated count for that day was in place, I had written 13,585 words for that day alone.

Day two came along and the book was really beginning to flow quite effortlessly by now. I didn't write as much that day hitting only 6,414. Your sitting there thinking ONLY??? I know you are I can see the expressions on your face with my trusty hidden spy cam in this posting.

Day Three, the story took up a life of it's own adding things in that wasn't in the plot. That's OK, I could handle that, it wasn't a big issue, it didn't change the main plot outlook so we were good, we had a general understanding of each other. That day I got 10,156 words written, a nice leap up from day two. By now I'm way ahead of the targeted 1667 words a day minimum to keep on the 50k target, life is comfortable.

Day Four, by the end of this day I had discovered that a whole new chapter had to be written in pushing the other remaining chapter further down the line. What was supposed to be chapter 9 now became chapter 10 and the new chapter decided it would be 9. No changing of story line required made it simple and easy for me to deal with. On this day I reached 10,203. Better than day 2, and day 3, but day 1 still holds the highest number count in 1 24 hour period.

Day Five, this is the day that has just ended. I'm tired, word out, can just about feel my fingers on the end of my cold hands but the day has been yet another productive one. The new additional chapter filled up today, but was originally only going to be a short snippet one before 10 and turned out to be around the same standard length the other chapters had fallen into, which was around the 5k mark. Today my word count isn't as high as Days one, three and four, but certainly higher than day two with 9707.

So after Five days of pretty much non stop committed writing, only stopping for an hour at night to walk the dogs, and hour mid way for dinner, not starting until 2 in the afternoon - and not to forget the mention of - I wasn't writing every minute of the waking hours I was up. It was split to such times as 10 minutes then a break, 30 minutes there then a break or 15 minutes here then eat, or 20 minutes then break. It's been the same the last 5 days. There has been the common obvious distractions going on as well, you know the likes, parent's wanting to talk to you, friends on facebook, the general goings on in the outside world.

Anyway with 14 minutes to spare before midnight of the 5th of November, I reached and surpassed the big 50k ... ok so surpassed it by only 66 words - that still counts. However the story is not done yet, there for, I with my fellow wrimo's around the world will continue to strive and serve the writing world by continuing to work on it for as long as November shall last. I will add to it daily but I need not add such vast amounts unless I am compelled to do so.

It also means that as I have reached my target intended figure by Saturday night, I can spent most of the day on Sunday relaxing, I will do some writing so don't worry about that. I won't leave my Character drowning in a lake when he can't swim, his outcome will be decided tomorrow at some point.

Saturday, 5 November 2011

Well we're almost what? A week into NaNoWriMo's mad month and after 4 days of writing I'm already sitting at 42025 thousand words. Someone wake my up now and tell me how that's even possible!!!

OK so I may have gone over the score and become committal within the first week but come on, who wouldn't if they had the time and the ideas flowing to get it done?

As I've mentioned before, this is my first ever NaNo attempted to write a 50k or more novel in 30 days. It doesn't matter if it's not complete come the 30th but you do need to have hit that 50k mark, which if all goes to plan and forms nicely then that will be tomorrow evening where I could probably have Sunday off as a reward for dying during nano who knows.

So yea.... hey it turns out, I now need to go and insert another chapter which means instead of having another 5 to work through, I have to extend that to 6. The new inserted chapter wont be long but this character has some forgiving to do before he can move on, it's not all bad he's very thankful too.

Where am I now... Oh yea I'm currently in the process of finishing chapter 8 which would have taken me on to the pre-planned chapter nine, which incidentally needs to become chapter 10.

So any way yea that's how it's at right now on the... what day is it... Friday/Saturday ... OK Saturday the 5th and it's roughly 4:39am. I should be sleeping but here I am, making record of my progress in what's been 4 days of writing, with another coming up as soon as I pull myself out of bed and have something to eat.

Thursday, 27 October 2011

It's times like this I'd wish the time would fly and it would be right where I want it to be.I just want to sit and work on my novel and November isn't coming quick enough for me to do that.Oh November please come quicker, I begeth thee to come now. I don't want to wait any longer, my fingers are itching to scrawl across the page, and across the keys, ready and willing to bring words to life where magic flows, to delve into the fountains of inspirations, and end up in the cave of new creations.4 more days I telleth thee, 4 more days dare you wait!!

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

Sunday, 23 October 2011

My chosen project for my first ever participation in NaNoWriMo (see previous posting) falls into the genre of Literary Fiction.

The title is now set in motion, which took a long time for the trigger to come. I was pondering so many titles that I had sitting for such a story but neither one fitted the aspect. It was only when I went looking for setting idea's did the title hit me. I was so busy focusing on the Wolf aspect in the title that I didn't see it sooner. Canis Lupus - aka The Wolf aka Grey Wolf - Aka - Timber Wolf. I removed the Wolf part completely and started working with Timber. I then decided I need something with some zing to run with it. I wanted something that for me brought about a sense of sanctuary, of peace. Something that was hidden from sight unless shown directly. It was then that Varden clicked to the forefront of the mind and from there it was truly set in motion. From a novel that was going to be called. Spirit of the Wolf... or even Wolf Whispers, it has now become Timber Varden and that name shall forever be the same.

Once the title clicked into place it was as if everything just fell at it's feet. A gift from god perhaps, who knows and only time will tell.

I've only been committed to Nano for two weeks now, with great thanks to another blog on line, one that represents the views of a writers Agent and how they deal with query letters as well as giving out ample advice to all those budding writers out there . But now that my mind is set and that it has a rough idea of the subject matter in which I intend to write about, I can't wait for it to come around.

Timber Varden thus far has one definitive main character.. well two if you count the wolf. But can animals be main characters? I don't have a clue. I'm running with the idea that they can, so make the main character count 2. I then have at least another 2 characters that don't feature so much so I think they would become secondary characters. Second to the Main one obviously.

The main leading character being - Christian Ash-Croft.

The current synopsis for - Timber Varden.

Christian Ash-Croft, a 35 year old writer, struggling to reach a deadline for a novel that he's yet to write. With time running out, stress levels soar to new heights. His life to him rapidly falls apart before his eyes. His relationship with long term partner Amelia Lockhart has been growing increasingly rough. Many arguments have passed between them, but as deadline looms, temperatures rise and it looks like his relationship could be all over.

With no work to show for the months that have passed. A decision is made and a call to the publisher is needed. Exchanges are made, the date is moved, and further choices are made. With his relationship looking increasingly over, Christian takes himself to his secluded Log Cabin which resides in Timber Varden. Only one road leads in and out, with no other soul around for miles, it's the perfect place for him to seek solace.

What comes next he doesn't expect nor anticipate. He knows of the Varden Pack but knows little of the legend that befalls Timber Varden. The legend of Timber Varden has it that the spirit of White Wolf can often be seen running with the Varden pack and yet not be one of them. Should anyone venture too far into danger or off course, the Wolf will find them, and lead them to safety. But there is more to this wolf than meets the eye.

What lies in wait for Christian in Timber Varden?Will he finally get that novel written and make the new deadline?Will he patch things up with Amelia?

NaNoWriMo officially known as National Novel Writing Month which consists of writing a novel of at least 50,000 words or more in the short space of 30 days. Running from November 1st right through to November 30th. Thousands upon thousands take part in this and this year for the first time, I will be one of those participants. I've never written a novel of 50,000 words before, let alone write that many words in one day.. not ever.

Am I scared? ... A little.

Am I ready for it? ... I sure hope to be.

Is everything planned out that needs planning? ... Not in the slightest but we'll get there eventually. To tell the truth, I'm bricking it! But I'm also looking forward to the madness of writing for the love of writing, writing for one's self and not for someone else. Writing for the pleasure and passion that it brings to the inner most complicated soul ever possible.

Do I expect to have a novel of more that 50,000 words at the end of it all? ... No, I don't expect that, so the question begs to be asked. What do I hope to gain from putting myself through this madness and what do others hope to gain from it all. As some see it as complete madness and a waste of time, I and many others like me, see it as branching out and taking up a self limited challenge. The outcome from it all, I hope to take is writing discipline. To be able to write to a daily limit and push my writing restraints. Whether I'll become a better writer from it is yet to be seen but then, I'm not writing for someone else. I might right in the memory of someone but not for anyone but myself.

I may track my progress on this blog or on Facebook. I've yet to get that far ahead in my planning of what needs doing. Currently I'm looking at character sheets, planning and descriptions for characters and how to bring about those said descriptions into the novel for this project.

The hardest part, I believe is pushing myself to get it done. Thus for NaNo I have chosen to work on a different novel idea that falls into a different genre from the one that's already in progress that relates to my last posting on here from some time ago... yes.... it still isn't finished. The progress for that one has been slow due a series of knock on events. Which is why November is turning out to be an important month and one of which I am looking forward to instead of dreading, like I have been for the last so many years.

Sunday, 3 July 2011

‘Alice, a journalist with a gift, one she’s pushed away all her life. But that all changes when a tragic battle for life of one so close reopens that door, in which Alice finds out she doesn’t have to go through it alone. Help is there for her and channels of communication are open to her. In her struggle of awareness does her feelings compel her forward, or has she lost it, and with it, lost the one chance of making a difference in her life.’

Unfortunately it was but a dream, a mere fragment of hope in the feeble mind of a convalescent soul. A mind that wants the unattainable, where fear holds with a firm grasp. A mind that lives and loves even the smallest of dreams, shall conquer the ever holding wrath of fear and banish its hold into the void of darkness.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Fire, that's what they called it, that burning sensation deep inside that could consume even the strongest of people if left uncontrolled, the very same sensation that spurs life through the very veins that have the control. The sensation that burns with the most tender of touches, that flares right up at the slowest of glances. Such passion and life, oh how it burns like a candle in the dark

About Me

Jennifer spent many years without daring to lift a pen, without writing a word that wasn't forced. That was however, until the year 2008 arrived. It dawned the starting of a new age, an age where love and passion for writing arrived. She spent that year and the following two, writing just over 250 poems. It was these that kick started her passion to take it further. When 2011 arrived, so too did the urge to expand her depth and level and her first novel was born. That novel is still on going. Others since then have birthed ideas, so dare I say – Watch this space.